Amsterdam Report

We left home on 9th May in high winds and made a relatively easy run to Dover. Even the M25 was flowing well though there were idiots aplenty. I had great anxieties over the fridge which does not work in the car unless the engine is running - very clever people Mercedes. By the time we got to Veurne almost 30 miles driving) we were pretty tired. The ferry had been OK and did not have trouble with the weather c. force 7 with long streaks down the waves but no small boats were to be seen. The Old House was lovely so we quickly went out for a beer and to consider options for supper. The sun was shining but the wind was very strong. We opted for Oogappell and Kristin had langoustines and then lobster while I had fish soup (inferior to Sonja's) and tournedos rossini. We went to bed happy and got up next day to wind and much rain. The breakfast was good - smoked salmon and scrambled eggs but then we had to get on the road to Amsterdam. The Belgian Mway was murderous, heavy traffic and much standing water mainly due to wear with long waterfilled grooves in the road. When we hit one of these the car tried to slew round. In addition passing lorries was actively dangerous as the spray thrown up was almost opaque. Even worse was on car/caravan combination that behaved like an upsidedown waterfall - presumably emptying both longtitudinal grooves.
Dutc Mways were much better with less standing water and fewer lorries. Again we got to our hotel (Golden Tulip west) exhausted.
We had a snack lunch in the hotel bar, good food but slow service and very noisy Dutch group nearby. We rested till 5 pm. and went off by trqam to the Jordaan finding our supper at a Basque restaurant with pinchos, razor shell clams and tuna and duck liver brochettes - all very nice. Our homeward tram journey led us astray because of a route diversion but we were helped by a very nice local and got home eventually.
12th May today we set off initially to get a tram (not running) then by taxi and passed a hi lift lorry repairing the overhead cable so the lack of tram was explained. We were late at the VanGoch museum so abandoned it for theModern Art Museum with several good exhibitions plus lots of early 20th C art. We returned tired in the tram and continuing wind and rain expecting to sally forth again to the Jordaan which is a lovely neighbourhood.